One of the important ways you can help your child with math is by playing fluency games together. We’ve collected a few and listed them here for you to use.
Children develop strategies for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing and use them for doing math until the number combinations become habituated (as the math experts say) for quick recall. A list of strategies is here. There are a few combinations that don't have strategies, and those are simply memorized. But as you work with your child, don't focus on memorizing the math facts - help them develop the strategies by playing the "slow" games below, and then play the "fast" games to get them to recall the facts quickly.
Pathways game - Version 1 - Version 2 In Version 1, player #1 rolls two dice and either adds or multiplies them, then draws a circle in their color around the number. Player #2 rolls two dice and either adds or multiplies them, then draws a circle around that number. The object is to circle numbers to create a path from the top to the bottom, and to block the other player from creating a path. Circled numbers can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal to create the path. Version 2 has its own directions.
Rectangle Multiplication: An on-line resource from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives that helps students visualize multiplication as arrays or the area of a rectangle, showing how multiplication is repeated addition. After clicking on the link, scroll down to Rectangle Multiplication.
Mixing in Math Flash Cards with games. A great set of flash cards for playing fluency games. These cards have graphic representations of each number, as well as the numeral. Comes with lots of game suggestions. Buy them here.
"Fast" games - to develop quick recall
Shout It Out (with flash cards). Students sit across from each other, each with half of a deck of flash cards. They turn the top card over and place it on the table at the same time. The first person who says the sum (or product) of the two cards gets to keep both cards. Play continues until one student has the whole deck. Be careful how you match students up to play this game, or the game ends quickly!
Help your child learn math!
One of the important ways you can help your child with math is by playing fluency games together. We’ve collected a few and listed them here for you to use.
Children develop strategies for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing and use them for doing math until the number combinations become habituated (as the math experts say) for quick recall. A list of strategies is here. There are a few combinations that don't have strategies, and those are simply memorized. But as you work with your child, don't focus on memorizing the math facts - help them develop the strategies by playing the "slow" games below, and then play the "fast" games to get them to recall the facts quickly.
Two charts that your child can use to keep track of which number combinations they know and which they need to work on are here:
Chart for addition facts
Chart for multiplication facts
"Slow" games - to develop strategies
The Product Game. This is a great online game for two players. You can also download a paper game board here.
Pathways game - Version 1 - Version 2
In Version 1, player #1 rolls two dice and either adds or multiplies them, then draws a circle in their color around the number. Player #2 rolls two dice and either adds or multiplies them, then draws a circle around that number. The object is to circle numbers to create a path from the top to the bottom, and to block the other player from creating a path. Circled numbers can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal to create the path.
Version 2 has its own directions.
Rectangle Multiplication: An on-line resource from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives that helps students visualize multiplication as arrays or the area of a rectangle, showing how multiplication is repeated addition. After clicking on the link, scroll down to Rectangle Multiplication.
Krypto. The classic card game also has an on-line version.
Mixing in Math Flash Cards with games. A great set of flash cards for playing fluency games. These cards have graphic representations of each number, as well as the numeral. Comes with lots of game suggestions. Buy them here.
"Fast" games - to develop quick recall
Shout It Out (with flash cards). Students sit across from each other, each with half of a deck of flash cards. They turn the top card over and place it on the table at the same time. The first person who says the sum (or product) of the two cards gets to keep both cards. Play continues until one student has the whole deck. Be careful how you match students up to play this game, or the game ends quickly!
There are lots of computer fluency games at multiplication.com and at Math Playground (see Space Race for an example)
You can also download games for your tablet or smart phone at 10 Apps for Math Fluency.